My New Reality
by SwampertUntilWeWin31
Summary: Leyon is the newest member of the Literature Club. But something isn't right. With the Club. With the girls. Even with Leyon, himself
1. 01 Your Reality

**Your Reality**

"_This should do it. This should at least save your brothers brain."_

"_Hey, Dan? Realistically, how much harm can he come to in there."_

"_If you're referring to his physical form, none. His conscious is also safe. I made sure none of them can use any of the programming from the previous version of the game."_

"_Leyon worked so hard with you to build this. Will anyone in there be able to tell him what happened, should he realise what's going on?"_

"… _Just one. Just her."_

"_All we can do is hope, then. Rest in Peace, little brother."_

"Heeeeeeeyyy…!"

I see an annoying girl running towards me from the distance, waving her arm in the air like she's totally oblivious to any attention she might draw to herself. That girl is Sayori, my neighbour and a character in Doki Dok E… ? WHAT THE HELL?! IS THIS REAL? I look down at my hands and, sure enough, I think and my fingers bend.

"Haaahhh…haaahhh…" Sayori pants out, almost like she just sprinted a full mile. "I overslept again! But I caught you this time!" She adds.

"Yeah…" I reply to her, almost dismissively. Honestly, I'm more than a little distracted, just now. I'm not sure how this happened, but it appears that I am _in_ Doki Doki Literature Club, as a character of the game.

Sayori looks at me with a concerned expression. "Leyon? Are you okay? You look really pale." She asks me, that concern to me spreading from her expression to her light heated tone. Of course, I'm not okay. I'm trapped in a horror game. Or, that's how it looks, at least. I check my reflection in the window and, yeah. Sure enough, I look like me. Brown, shoulder length hair, blueish/greyish eyes. Yeah, that's me.

I look around a see Sayori's concerned expression staring back at me. "Oh, sorry Sayori. Yeah, I'm okay. Just double checking what you said. I'm alright, honestly." I try to convince her, but Sayori cast's doubt at me. Ouch. "Let's go to school." I follow up, unconvincingly. Sayori gives me another concerned look, while we walk to school. Seeing everything, literally everything, with my own eyes, and it's right here in front of me. I can touch the walls and feel the sensation of the textured brick. I can smell the flowers as they come closer to my nose. I can see and hear the other students that the games text mentions in the briefest of instances. I can see and hear Sayori.

Wait! Sayori went off script just now! She asked if I was okay, instead of asking me if I'm interested in joining a club! I can't believe it took me this long to realise! Her expressions are so real and life-like, including the confused expression she's giving me now-Ah, crap! I've been acting weird, haven't I? Quick, Leyon! Come up with an excuse! GO!

"Uh, I'm just checking to see if my nose is blocked. I thought about what you said and, maybe I'm just tired, but I want to make sure it's nothing more serious than that." I say quickly, trying to cover up my epiphany that I'm now a video game character, suddenly. Honestly, I don't want to think about how she'd react to that. Not that my attempt at covering up my weird behaviour was a particularly good one, mind you.

"Okay…" Sayori says, dejectedly for a moment before looking up with a half-smile. "Well, have you decided on a club to join yet, Leyon?" She asks me. What should I say to that? I know how this goes from here out, so I could either play this out the way that's expected, or I could see how much of this is script and how much isn't.

"Actually, Sayori…" I start to talk, then stop to think about my answer. I was just going to play along with the game, but I wonder more and more about what I can possibly do. Sayori looks at me quizzically, waiting for my answer. "Sorry, I had a hiccup." How far I break from the script could affect the game, so maybe I should stick with the plan. That said, is there even a plan? Sayori's already broken from the script. We'll see. "Yes. Yes, I have picked a club." I say to her.

Sayori's eyes light up, her whole face beams with excitement. "Really?! Awesome! Which one?!" She asks me, giddily, practically bouncing beside me. It's kind of adorable and so infectious, that I can't help but smile with her. Still, I want to keep my metaphorical cards close to my chest.

"It's a surprise. I'll tell you now that it's not the Anime club." I say to her, kind of laughing to myself, which Sayori joins in with, of course. Just like in the game, she's so carefree. It's an intoxicating feeling, being around her. Even when we walk up to my classroom. "Well, here I go. I'll see you around, Sayori." She nods and waves with a huge smile on her face. As I walk to my desk and take a seat, pulling out my history textbook, a thought occurs to me. How the bloody hell do I know this is my class!?

The school day is as ordinary as ever. And it's over before I even know it. I take a quick glance at the list of clubs to find where I'm going, then leave the classroom. I make my way to the third floor, a floor I rarely visit. As I approach the room, I see someone else I recognise, a tall brunette with a big white ribbon in her hair. "Hello, Monika!" I call out, waving at her.

"Huh?" Monika let's out in surprise, looking just as startled as her tone of voice would suggest. "Leyon? What are you doi-!" Monika's question is interrupted by a gleeful Sayori opening the door and practically pouncing on me. Honestly, it's a little hard to maintain my balance, but a quick pivot on the heel while briefly hugging said gleeful Sayori allows me to stay upright, while letting her down without injury.

"AAAAHHHH!" She lets out, actually bouncing around this time. "What are you doing here, Leyon?!" She follows up, still letting out little hops on the spot. Monika gives me a look that can only be described as frustration and confusion, hidden behind a half smile. I wonder if she's trying to access the code of the game to find out what's going on. I'm sure I'll find out.

"Well, Sayori, I've decided to join the Literature Club!" I say excitedly. Not something I thought I'd say with a tone of excitement, considering how this game is supposed to pan out, but I don't exactly have any proof that's what's going to happen. Yet. "However, I wonder if I could get a word with Monika, one on one first. We do know each other, after all, and it has been a while since we've talked. I think we need to catch up. Right, Monika?" I turn to face her.

Monika looks shocked once more. She only gives me a single nod, then looks at Sayori. "Y-yeah, Sayori, could you get the desks together and ask Yuri to make some tea. We'll be with you in a couple of minutes, okay?" She asks her fellow club member, almost nervously. I can tell she's trying to fake her confidence, but this has really got her shaken. Can't say I blame her for that.

"Sure thing, President!" Sayori calls out, raising her closed fist to the sky. Then running inside. You can the muffled cries of "Everyone! We have a new member outside, talking to Monika. Let's make them welcome, shall we?!"

"That Sayori…" I sigh, happily. "Always so full of energy." I finish, walking over to a window, leaning against the sill, "I have questions, Monika. I hope you and I can figure them out together. Would that be okay?" I say looking at her reflection.

Monika still looks confused, but joins me anyway, her back resting against the wall next to the window. "Sure thing." She lets out, almost frustratingly. "I have some questions for you, myself." She adds, quite bitterly, turning to look at me. "First of all, are you aware that none of this world is real?"

"Believe me, Monika. I know more about that than you care to imagine." I say to her. "I'm… How do I put this?" I ask, my brow furrowing in frustration. I can't make up my mind if telling her what I know is a good idea. But how else am I meant to explain that I know about the game? I guess I have no choice. Especially with Monika growing ever more quizzical by the second. "Okay. I'm just going to say it. I was the player of Doki Doki Literature Club, Monika." I tell her, not looking at her.

Her response is one I half expected, a snort and a slight snigger. "Yeah. Right." She responds, getting off the wall. She takes a step away, still not looking at me. "Come on…" I can hear her whisper under her breath. Two more times, I hear her repeating those same two words, almost like she's trying to do something. Ah! I've got it.

"Can't access the command menu?" I ask her. Monika looks round at me once more, more shocked than ever. I finally stop talking to her through her reflection and turn to face her. "Yeah. I know about that. And how you used it to drive Sayori and Yuri to suicide before deleting them. How you used it to delete Natsuki as well. Because I sat at my computer and watched you do it." I say to her, sadly. Truth be told, I want to be angry at her, but with every word I say to her, her expression changes, from disbelief to utter sadness.

"So…?" She manages to say softly, her voice cracking, as if she's trying not to cry. "How? How are you here?" She says almost breathlessly, the tears finally forming in her eyes. I wrap my arms around her. Tightly, trying to let her know that everything is okay. "Leyon?!" She gasps.

"It's okay, Monika. It wasn't you; I know. Something in the game's code drove you to it. The same happened to Sayori when you tried to put everything back together, remember?" I whisper to her. Monika wraps her arms around me, loosely at first, but gradually getting tighter. I think someone telling her they understand what happened has given her a sense of well needed… relief? I'm not sure if that's the right word, or not. She's stopped crying, at least. "Are you okay now?"

Monika nods into my chest a couple of times, before breaking the hug to look up at me, smiling. "This doesn't answer my question, though… How did end up in this world?" If she's asking me, then she doesn't know, either. That's worrying. "Is there something in your memory that can help?" She asks me.

I start wracking my brain for clues. Growing more and more bothered as I can only recall up to a loud noise, like metal hitting metal, followed by a bright light. That's when I woke up here. In the game. As I realise what happened after putting it all together in my mind I turn to the window once again, almost collapsing from the weight of the burden this memory has jogged. I prop myself up against the window sill with both hands again. Monika runs up to me, a concerned look on her face. "Monika, I…." I can't even bring myself to say it.

"You, what? Are you okay, Leyon? You look pale. Are you sick?" Monika motors out one sentence after another, sounding more and more concerned for me. She quickly moves over to a water fountain, holding down the tap, grabbing a plastic up from a stack beside said drinking fountain and fills it up, putting it in front of me. "Here, drink this."

"I… I…" Trying to say anything has become more than a burden. All words escape me at this moment. I practically down the water, then look at Monika, giving her a single, stoic nod. I turn to rest my back against a wall, sliding down it to sit on the floor. Well, here it goes, the hardest thing I've ever had to tell myself, never mind anyone else. I slowly raise my head to look up at Monika. "I think I'm here… because I'm dead."


	2. 02 Peace of Mind

**Peace of Mind**

_((Authors Note: The song I chose for this is called Peace of Mind, by the Rock Band Boston. It's my favourite song, ever written, of all time. It's very special to me, and I hope those of you who are reading this will give it a listen and appreciate that this song makes me comfortable, even when I have no company, at all.))_

I almost feel sick after saying that. I died? If I put the pieces together, it makes sense. I was in a car accident. Something ploughed into my friend's car. Right into the driver's side. Right into him… "Monika. I think I lost someone close to me." I begin to, slowly, tell her what I remember. She looks more and more distraught with every word that leaves my mouth. Not that I can blame her. I've just told her I'm here because I don't have a body of my own, anymore.

"No, that can't be…" She says in a rather hushed disbelief. There's a quiet, awkward pause before Monika looks at me with a smile, like a lightbulb turns on over her head "Actually, now that I think about it, that would be impossible." She adds, flicking her wrist and pointing up with her right index finger, like I've seen her do so many times. She then sits beside me, taking one of my hands between both of hers and locking her fingers around it. "Think about it. If you had… died, there would be no memories. Or, no brain activity at all, actually." She informs me, with a slightly happy tone. "I guess that's still not very comforting. I'm sorry Leyon."

I slowly shake my head, looking at the space of ground between my feet. "Thank you." I say to her, softly. Monika looks at me, slightly baffled. "For trying, I mean. Thank you for trying." I say to her, half smiling. "It says a lot that you're trying to comfort me, when I need it the most."

Monika half giggles, covering her mouth. "Well, I am your club President, after all!" She says with an upbeat tone. "It's my responsibility to make sure all my members are feeling positive." I look over to Monika and see the biggest smile on her face. "And if that means helping you adjust to this world, then that's what I'll do."

"Yeah. Yeah, I would like that." I say to her as I get up onto my feet. "Talking of the club, we'd better make our way over to them- huh?" I feel a tugging on my arm and realise that Monika still has a hold of my hand. I smile at her warmly, then smirk and her with a Plan for mischief in mind. My smirk becomes a grin and then, very quickly, put my free hand around hers and pull her up to her feet. Unluckily, for Monika, she lost her balance and began to fall. Luckily, for Monika, she could only fall into me. I hold my arms open as she slips towards me, catching her.

Monika gasps as my arms wrap around her again. She laughs a little bit as her hands meet my shoulders. "You did that on purpose, you big jerk!" She says, slightly raising her voice. I can't deny I was feeling a little mischievous. But I was also trying to make both of us laugh. It's what we need.

"Is that a complaint, Ma'am?" I ask her, cheekily, putting on the most stereotypical English Gentlemen accent that I can. Which only makes Monika lose herself, laughing quite loudly, as I let her take the lead back to the clubroom, shaking her head as she walks past me. Following Monika like this feels natural. Occasionally She'll turn to look at me and smile. It's nice. Welcoming, even.

"Okay everyone!" Monika says as she opens the club room door and walks through, with me being two steps behind. "Sorry to keep you all waiting. Our new club member is here!" She adds, with a happy tone. I give a single wave, which is met with an enthusiastic one-person applause from Sayori, of course, while I walk to the desks that have been arranged to form a table. I take a seat next to Sayori, so now I'm sandwiched between her and Monika. If I was a puerile, immature person, I'd have a joke to make about this situation, but I'll refrain. For now.

"Welcome! It's a pleasure to meet you." The girl with the purple hair across the table says, pouring tea from a put into cups for everyone. "Sayori has told us so many things about you." She adds. I know who this is and decide to take the initiative.

"You must be Yuri, right?" She looks up from her teapot, a little shocked, and gives me a single, shy nod. "Monika gave me a brief rundown of who everyone is, while we were catching up on what we missed. We haven't really spoke in a while." I say, starting to go off on a tangent, then I catch myself and get back on topic. "Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you, Yuri. I'm Leyon!" I say enthusiastically, then turn to face the petite, pink haired girl next to her. "And that means you're Natsuki, correct? It's nice to meet you, too!"

The girl shuffles in her seat, uncomfortably. "What are you after?!" She retorts, defensively. Yeah, classic Natsuki. This is the exact Tsundere reaction that I expected from her. I had to stop myself from laughing. Partly because the only person who'd laugh with me would be Monika, and Natsuki would think the two of us are ganging up on her. But mostly because she'd, probably, find a very heavy book to wing at my face.

"Nothing, Natsuki. I'm just being polite, is all." I say to her. The look on her face tells me she isn't buying it. I must try and win her over, somehow. Then it hits me! "So, Monika tells me you keep a Manga collection in the clubroom, right? That's pretty cool!"

"You! Oh… You read Manga, too?" Yup. Got her. Now comes the hard part. I did read manga, though I must admit, it has been a while. Natsuki smiles, kind of, and takes a bit more of an interest in me. "What was the last series you read?" She asks me, trying to play to cool, only leaning in ever so slightly, thinking no one noticed. I decide to humour her and play along.

"Well, I was reading a Shonen Manga about teenagers playing a children's trading card game. Although, I did enjoy one called Fruits Basket. It's a silly slice of life series about a girl who moves in with a family of boys, who are cursed." Natsuki looks at me, quizzically, like she's never heard of it. I smile at her, but in my head, I'm proud I've managed to come up with a manga she hasn't heard of. "Tell you what, how about we go to a book store

sometime and I'll pick the first volume out for you?" I ask her. Natsuki looks like she wants to decline, but instead gives me a single nod.

As the conversation with everyone continues, discussing books and authors, leaning a little bit about each other, I can hear Sayori giggling a little bit from time to time, just to the left of me. Something tells me she's more than happy I'm getting on with everyone. Occasionally, I'll turn to Monika, sitting to my right, and she smiles every time we make eye contact. It's so infectious that I can't help but smile with her.

"So, Leyon! We've been thinking of activities we could do in this club." Sayori exclaims excitedly. I can only hope they already started writing poetry and dropped it, because my overall abilities to write poetry are less than stellar. Hell, even calling them 'mediocre' would be very generous. Still, all four girls look to me for an idea, and just as I try to skip over poetry, a lightbulb turns on over my head.

"Well… Personally, I think of song lyrics as literature. I don't how the four of you feel about that?" I look around the room. Yuri still looks curious, Natsuki folds her arms, Sayori nods her head and Monika smiles, half curiously. "Here's what I propose. Every Friday, we come into the club after analysing the lyrics of a song. We talk over the meaning behind the lyrics, the story or idea the words are portraying. How does that grab you?"

Monika, while smiling, still manages to look at me quizzically. I kind of want to call that a win, because I've never seen anyone pull that off before. Meanwhile, Sayori, Natsuki and Yuri look at me with varying smiles of approval, before Monika speaks up. "I like it, Leyon!" She says emphatically. Now all I have to hope for is that she doesn't ask me if I have a song in mind. As I look to Monika, I can see a mischievous, yet playful, look in her eye. Any other occasion, I might be tempted to make a lewd joke, but I think she's caught on that I have nothing in mind. "Does our newest member have anything in mind?" She asks me in a pseudo-coy manner.

Crap! Now I really need to think on my feet. Just anything will do, Leyon, say something! "Um, well, there is this song I grew up listening to called Peace of Mind. It's a Rock song by a band called Boston. I love the song because of the lyrics, so I would really like to hear what everyone else feels when they read them. Of course, this also means you'll have to listen to the song while you read them, so… Sorry, but it's 1970's music, for your ears." I ramble out, realising everything I said kind of made sense. Kind of being the key words.

And yet, as I glance around the room, the girls seem to approve of my idea a bit more! Maybe I pulled it off, after all? Monika nods at me, standing up, slowly. "Well, if we're all in agreement, we can get set to do this on Friday. Do we all agree?" Monika asks as I wait patiently for a response. Hold up! This isn't in the original game, either! What else has gone into this mod?! I would continue to dwell on this, but Monika has rested her left hand on my right shoulder. One by one, the girl's eyes light up as they all nod in agreement in their various ways. Once again Monika looks at me with a big, happy smile. "Okay, but that's on Friday, and today is Wednesday. So, tomorrow is Poetry writing day." She says, tipping her head to the left ever so slightly while closing her eyes.

She knew, didn't she? This is exactly why she's going out of her way to act cute. And it works. I can't even sigh, or even be disappointed on the inside. I just smile back at her. "Sure thing. I'll do my best to write something you can enjoy reading. Though I will admit it to you now, I'm not the best writer you'll come across."

Natsuki laughs, almost cruelly. I get the feeling she doesn't mean to sound as mean as she does, so I'll let it slide. "That's why you're here, isn't it?" She asks, still kind of laughing while she speaks. Maybe her laughter is a nervous reaction? I don't remember her acting like that in the main game, but I guess it is entirely possible. Afterall, the game messed with all the girls here. Maybe now, I'll be getting the true experience of what these girls are like? I guess time will tell. Wait a damn minute…

"What do you mean by that, Natsuki?" I ask, defensively. All the girls laugh at me, some louder than others. Even Yuri, the quietest and most reserved of the group, is having a little chuckle to herself. Just as I feel like Natsuki is about to give me an answer, Monika Stands up.

"Okay everyone! I think we can end this session on a good note." She says with an upbeat tone in her voice that I can't help but enjoy listening to. "Let's call it a day, then. I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Leyon! Ready to walk home?" Sayori asks me. That's right, Sayori and I used to walk home together… I got to stop putting myself in the place of MC, Sayori's childhood friend. I'm not that guy. I'm me. Still, I think my house is his, in game, so I should play along, a little bit.

"Sure thing, Sayori. See you tomorrow, Monika!" I say to the Club President, who smiles and winks at me as I walk out the door. I want to say that my mind is racing back and forth between all four of the girls, but the truth is my mind is already fixed on one: Monika. If this mod is anything like I think it is, I'm now trapped in a world with the on character I wanted to know more about when I was a player in the real world. This is my reali-

"Hey Leyon! What's on your mind?" Sayori asks, interrupting my train of thought. I can't tell if this is something I'm going to have to put up with, yet, but Sayori's interruption has totally disrupted my train of thought. "Let me guess, Monika?" She says teasingly.

I could swat at her, but instead I just snicker to myself, looking down at the ground. "Oh, Sayori… I'd like to tell you, but I don't remember." I figured honesty would be the best policy with her, given her past life in this game. I look over at her after having my eyes on the ground for a few seconds, to see Sayori, for what feels like the hundredth time, though is more than likely either the fourth or fifth time.

"Leyon, you're so obvious…" Sayori says to me, in a sad tone of voice. "Even I can tell you're not the childhood friend that the game wrote for me…"


	3. 03 Sometimes I feel like Screaming

**Sometimes I feel like screaming**

_(Hey everyone. So, the song is by Deep Purple, just in case you didn't know. I was trying to think of a song that would explain just how Leyon can dip, emotionally, in this place. When something tragic happens to you, that rocks you at your very foundations, shakes your core, sometimes you can experience that kind of emotional dip. And having friends and family around you is nice, it can help improve your mood. But the moment you're alone, you could dip again. Someone I loved, very dearly, died last year. She was one of the most incredible people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. That's 99% of the reason why I picked this song. The other 1% is just because I wanted to pick a cool classic rock song that my parents listened to a lot, while I was growing up. I still love this song, and if you haven't heard it, I hope you'll love it, too. Enjoy this chapter.)_

"Sayori?" I ask. Honestly, what was that just now? Is she sentient, like Monika? Wait, it's all coming back to me. Sayori did become president once the game had finished. But becoming President drove her crazy which could mean that… Oh no. "Are you okay?"

To my surprise, Sayori seems to be smiling at the ground. "So, you don't deny it, then? Who are you?" She asks, not looking up at me, but still smiling. I can't tell if Sayori's being genuine or not, as I can't see her eyes. Regardless, I explain what Monika and I had deduced, earlier.

"And so that's how it is. I hope I haven't upset you, in any way Sayori?" She looks at me with the saddest eyes I've ever seen and practically leaps at me, hugging me tightly. I can hear her sobbing, feel her tears on my cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Leyon." She murmured between sobs. "I wanted to say something this morning, I really did. But I didn't know how to." She adds. Honestly, I understand where she's coming from. What do you say to someone who's freaking out about being alive one moment, then comatose, possibly dead, and waking up in a video game? I'm still having a little trouble processing it if I'm being honest with myself.

The very least I can do is give Sayori a hug and let her know what's on my mind. I slowly and gently wrap my arms around her. "It's okay, Sayori. What would you say to someone in my position? What would anyone say?" She looks up at me with sad, almost puppy dog-like eyes, still filled with tears. "What's important here is you care. And I thank you for that. And I'll do my best to return the favour in kind, I promise."

Sayori smiles and nods at me. For the rest of the walk home, we talk about classes, the weather, mostly mundane stuff. As I get to my house, I say my goodbyes to Sayori and shut my door. Then come the tears. It's good to know that Monika and Sayori know that I'm… Well, in a dire situation, to put it mildly. I adopt a foetal position and cry some more. I may never wake up and see my family again. Even if I do, what happened to them? They were in the car with me. Are they okay? "God… Fucking… Damn it." I manage to force out, breathlessly.

After a while, I try and straighten myself out and remain calm. Calm… That's a laugh. I run a warm shower and try to process everything. What Monika said is true. If I were dead, there's no way any of this would happen. Afterall, the brain must be functional, to process senses like sight and touch. That makes sense, to me. What doesn't make sense is how this is all possible, in the first place.

As I dry myself with a towel and get changed into something more casual, a Deep Purple t-shirt and jeans, I hear a knock at my door. It's not exactly late, but it's getting dark round abut now. Who could that be? I gently open the door.

"S-Sayori?!" This is a surprise. And it looks like she's brought a large pizza, snacks, and a couple of bottles of Pepsi with her. "Come in! Come in! I'm sorry." I can't quite believe it. She came over, unprompted by anyone or anything. I close the door and sit on the opposite sofa. "What's this all about?"

"Silly Leyon. I'm doing what I can to make you feel welcome and comfortable." She said to me with that usual smile that could light up a room. I can't say I don't appreciate the effort. It's a nice surprise. But it looks like Sayori has something else in mind.

"Penny for your thoughts, Sayori." I say and take a slice of pizza. She blushes a little bit as she's pouring drinks, even giggling nervously. Has she developed a Crush? No, Leyon, don't let yourself think like that. I shake get out of my head, or as much as I can any way, and come back to the room. Sayori's passed me over a drink.

"Well…" She started, nervously. "I figured that I should get to know you better. If we're going to be friends, and all that." She takes a quick gulp of her drink and puts it down. "Afterall, you've played this game, and know everything about me. But I've never actually met a player before." She adds, getting more enthusiastic and excited by the second. It's kind of cute, honestly.

"I see." I respond, taking another bite of my pizza. I look in the mirror and, sure enough, my avatar looks exactly the way I do: Six foot three, slim, blue eyes, upside down egg shaped face, according to that one friend of mine, and brown hair that comes down to my broad shoulders. "Well, as a starting point, the ugly visage in front of you is exactly how I look in the real world." I say with a little laughter. Self-depreciating humour is the best. "On top of that… Well, most of the things you see around the house are all things I'm into."

You know, I didn't notice until just now, but all my stuff is here. My pc and games consoles, plushies, replica weapons, books… It makes sense, as it's all stuff I know I own and it's all in my head, but I had no idea that it would manifest so easily into this mod of the gam-wait.

"Sayori, I have a question." She looks at me, giving me a small smile. "You said that you're sentient too, right? Can you manipulate the code? Monika couldn't, she had no control."

She shakes her head. "I have to admit, I'm a little confused. Who has control of the game?" She asks me. That's something I worry I share with Sayori. I hope the person in control isn't going to turn this into a horror game, anytime soon. I doubt it, very much, on the account that this has been set up, obviously, for my benefit. "Leyon?" I hear, softly. I look up, not even realising that I was looking down, in the first place.

"Oh, sorry, Sayori. I was just in thought." I say to her, taking another slice of pizza. "I was just considering our case and I don't think we have anything to worry about." I then explain my thought process. I don't know if she's convinced by what I was saying, but she's smiling at least. So that's a good sign.

An hour passes, the pizza was devoured between the two of us, along with the crisps. The conversation turns to interests. I'm not sure if I'm even a remotely interesting person, in Sayori's mind, after speaking about Tabletop Role Playing Games and my collection of replica weapons. The fact that she's even listening is enough of a comfort, though. That is of course, until we both realise the street lights are on and the sun's gone down.

"Crud! I haven't written a poem for tomorrow!" She said with a panicked tone. To be fair, neither have I. Part of me thinks Monika would just let us off, if we told her the truth. That said, I should come up with a backup plan. Got it!

I walk out to the gate with her, giving her a quick and gentle hug "Thank you for coming over, Sayori. I really appreciate it." I say to her with a small smile. "And leave the plan for tomorrow with me. I have something in mind" I add, calmly. "I'll see you in the morning." I say to her with a small smile and a nod. She waves and nods as she walks away. I know she only lives three or four doors away, but I keep an eye on things. Maybe it's because of my old neighbourhood, where anyone could jump out of a shadow and attack you? Or maybe it's out of a brotherly sense of protection? In any case, I stand outside until I hear Sayori's gate close, wait another minute or two, and then head back inside, boiling a kettle to make a cup of tea, while I clean up.

Now comes the tricky part. Here I am, sitting in an empty house. Two things pop into my head. The first being that Sayori's probably writing a poem now. It's dark, but it's not late, per se. Secondly, if I have a small breakdown, how will I explain it to Yuri and Natsuki? As far as I'm aware, neither of them are sentient. And lastly, Should I write a poem? Yes. I know I have an idea for a club activity to suggest to the President, but… Yeah, sod it. I'll write a poem, before I call it a night. I should try and bring some humour into it. Comedy has always been something I enjoy reading and listening to.

"Hah… Yea, I like that." I say out loud, to myself, reading back my own line to myself. I had one of those moments where I read something back to myself and didn't believe I wrote it. Sounds a little arrogant, when you stop and think about it, but I am genuinely surprised by it.

I finish the poem, happy with what I wrote, and pack it into a book that I plan on showing the club, shove it in my bag and sip my tea at my desk. Normally, I'd quickly check a social media page to see what my friends are up to, but that would be difficult, given this… I was thinking of calling it a shitty circumstance, but considering how things have been going so far, I suppose it could be worse.

A few more hours and I have my homework and a poem for the club meeting done. I am shattered. "Finally, time to sleep." I say to myself, mid-yawn, and quickly change into some pajamas. I contemplate texting Sayori to see how she feels about tomorrow, before two thoughts enter my head. The first, and most important, is that there is a good chance that she's asleep, right now. So, she wouldn't get my message until the morning.

The second being that, even if she was awake, I don't have any way of contacting her. I'll have to change that in the morning. And then make a point of keeping in touch with Natsuki, Yuri and Monika when I get to the club later that day. I hope my plan for another new club activity goes well. Thinking about it will only keep me awake. And right now, I need to sleep.

I wake up sitting bolt upright, terrified. "What the hell?!" I think out loud, covered in sweat. I guess I had a nightmare, but I don't remember anything about it. I guess I can count that as a blessing in disguise? Yeah, sure. It's six thirty in the morning, according to the flashing, screeching alarm clock by my bed. Which I slam my closed fist down onto, in an almost cartoonish manner, to shut it up. I take a moment to catch my breath and settle before I get ready for school.

I wolf down the two slices of toast I have and head out, locking the door behind me. "I could get used to not having a script not determining my every action. It means I can beat you out here every morning!" A familiar voice calls out from behind me. I turn to see a giggling Sayori at the other side of the gate. I can't help, really, but laugh with her. Her giggle is a little infectious.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." I say, still laughing as I close the gate and we start walking to school. "I didn't keep you waiting too long, I trust?" I ask her. I hate to keep anyone waiting, really. Much in the same way that I hate waiting, truth be told.

Sayori shakes her head at me. "No, no, I just got there, honestly." She responds, smiling away, like a ray of sunshine. I must admit, spending time with Sayori this morning really helped me take my mind off things. I would be lying if I said whatever woke me up wasn't still in the back of my mind, so having someone to speak with about the upcoming day. Mathematics and P.E. are my weakest subjects. I'm not great with numbers, and the only sport I'm halfway decent at is swimming.

"At least we have the club to look forward to." I quickly mention to Sayori, before splitting from her to head to my own class. "I'll see you there, alright?"


	4. 04 Free Fallin

**Free Fallin'**

_(Hi everyone. So, Let's just get these points over with nice and quick. First off, the title is from Tom Petty's hit song of the same name. It's a fantastic song and I love this man's music. Secondly, the poem is not my own writing and credit goes to Doctor John Cooper Clark, a British Performance Poet. And finally, this may end up being a long one. That's why I'm rushing through this Authors Note. Enjoy!)_

"Hi there, Leyon!" A smiling Monika greets me, as I walk into the club room. I nod at her, still not entirely sure what to make of my new home. I'm settling though.

"Ooooohhhh, Hey Monika." I return, finishing a yawn. I hope it's not too obvious I'm absolutely shattered. I didn't sleep too much last night. Four hours? Maybe five? I'm not entirely sure. Wait, why am I asking myself if it's not too obvious if I'm tired or not? I just yawned, of course it's obvious.

"You didn't sleep well, did you?" Monika asks me, now about a foot away from me, looking… Disappointed? No, I guess sad would be a better way to describe the look on her face. "Look, don't try too hard today, okay?" She adds with a reassuring tone of voice. "I know you had a conversation with Sayori last night, so I know you're… troubled, to put it, mildly."

Mildly is a nice way of putting it. At least Monika understands that.

"And honestly, I don't think anyone could blame you? So, if you want to just go home, I'll understand." Monika finishes, smiling with her eyes closed. She's trying so hard, for me and for the club, that to just go home on my first day wouldn't be right.

"Thank you, Monika." I finally say to her. "But with all due respect, I have a poem for today, so I'll be sticking around." I add, with at least half a smile. "If Natsuki or Yuri ask, I had a nightmare and had a hard time getting back to sleep."

As I say this, Sayori walks in and sees how tired I am. She looked concerned when we walked to school and that hasn't changed. "Leyon, are you sure about this?" She asks me in that lighter than air tone of voice. She's sweet, and it's nice that both her and Monika are concerned. At the same time, however, I must make the effort for them, just as they're making the effort for me.

"I'm sure. Look, I really appreciate how much you two are caring for me, but I have to return the favour to you." I say, putting my arms across their shoulders and hugging them. "I swear I'll be fine, just as long as you two are here to support me."

Both girls smile up at me and nod. "You can count on us!" They both reply at the same time, enthusiastically. My god, that was adorable! I hug them tighter and smile, genuinely and warmly, for what feels like the first time since I got here.

"Thank you. Both of you." I say to them, before I give them one more tight hug and letting them go, taking my bag off my back. "So, I have a poem, and I have another idea for a club activity. But I'm also hoping we do something with it outside school hours? Like, a day on the weekend, say?"

Monika looks puzzled, but also kind of happy. "Leyon? Are you asking me to come over to your house?" She asks, thinking I must be joking. Even Sayori starts giggling. Yuri and Natsuki walk in together at that precise moment, both with very quizzical expressions on their faces.

I just nod back at Monika. "Yes I am. As well as Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki. One day in the weekend, we can all gather at my home for a Literature Club activity outside of the school."

"If you think any of us are going sign up for some kind of Harem, you can think again?!" Natsuki interrupts. Monika looks mad. Sayori is shocked. As for Yuri, she just sighs in disappointment. And me? I just laugh. Honestly, I predicted something like that.

"Natsuki, please." I say to her, calmly. Getting mad and arguing with her will only escalate things to a level that it really doesn't need to reach. "I'll explain more after we've exchanged poems, but we can make a start on my idea today, in the club, if that would make you a little more comfortable?"

Natsuki seems surprised by my response. Was she expecting me to get defensive? I guess that's what the players avatar would have done. Hold on. Does that mean Natsuki's self-aware, too? No, Leyon. You're overthinking it. In any case, Natsuki seems to calm down and nod, wordlessly and shyly. I guess that's her way of apologising to me.

"Okay, everyone!" Monika calls out. I was looking forward to hearing her using that catch phrase of hers. It's pleasing to hear. "Let's share our poems first, for a change. It sounds like Leyon has a big plan for us!" She adds, pulling out her poem for the day, as do I and the other girls.

Who should I show my poem to first? I guess I haven't had a chance to speak to Yuri, yet. Yeah, let's make her my first choice. As I walk up to her, she shyly takes out her poem. "H-hi, Leyon. How've you been?" The question I was dreading. Well, no time like the present to try my excuse.

"I won't lie, I had a rough night, last night Yuri." I pause for a moment for a short, quiet yawn. Perfectly timed, body. I can feel Monika and Sayori's eyes on me, listening intently. Hopefully, they're just gauging Yuri's response and not just trying to work out whether that yawn was fake or real. "I had a bad nightmare and couldn't back to sleep, immediately."

Yuri looks at me sympathetically. "How horrible for you." She says, softly. "I understand how that feels and I appreciate the fact that you're still here, regardless. Thank you."

She's thanking me for showing up, really? I guess it speaks to my character, or something. "Uh, you don't need to thank me for that. If anything, I should thank you for accepting me." I respond. Yuri looks flustered. And starts playing with her hair.

"I-it's really nothing…" She struggles out. I smile back at her to reassure that everything's okay. "I'm looking forward to seeing what other activity ideas you have for the club. It's good to know that we have creative types among us." Yuri adds after a momentary pause, finding her confidence again. "I took the time to listen to that song you suggested we analyse the lyrics of. It's a fine song."

I can't help but feel happy about that. I totally forgot I brought that up yesterday. I know Sayori didn't listen to it, she was with me. Monika might have done. Natsuki… I'll have to ask. "Thank you, Yuri, that means a lot to me. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, now." I reply with an upbeat tone in my voice. "Anyway, would you like to read my poem, now?" I ask, completely forgetting what we were supposed to be doing. Yuri nods and takes my poem from me.

_I Wrote the Songs. _

_I wrote the songs that nearly made the bottom line of the hit parade. _

_Almost anthems, should-have-been hits. _

_Songs like Putting Off the Ritz. _

_Some Enchanted Afternoon. _

_24 hours From Levenshulme - in Manchester. _

_Dancing in The Daylight. Singing in The Smog. _

_You Ain't Nothing but A Hedgehog. _

_Ain't No Blag. Mama's Got A Brand-new Jag. _

_She Ain't Heavy, She's My Sister. Not to mention Twist and Whisper. _

_Brand-new Leopard-skin Pill-box Glove. _

_Baby, You and me Got A Greasy Kind of Love._

Yuri goes from interested, to slightly giggling to laughing, breathlessly, holding her stomach. She takes a seat and takes aa moment to compose herself. "Well… That wasn't an approach I expected from you." She says, sighing and catching her breath. "Wow! Okay… Well, the comedy and references to popular songs are more than evident here. It's simple, but effective. And when you're looking to make the reader laugh, that's what you should go for. Good work!" She adds, smiling and going back to read the poem a few times, trying not to laugh again. I look around the room and the rest of the girls look intrigued.

"Well, thank you, Yuri! I must admit, on top of my love of music, I'm also a person who's a fan of stand-up comedy. From legends like Billy Connelly and George Carlin, to more current comics like Dara O' Briain and Jimmy Carr. So, I want my poems to be able to make people smile and laugh." I inform my lilac haired friend, who nods along, not able to say much about it without laughing again. "May I ask, what line was it that really got you?"

Yuri, now noticing all eyes are on us, suddenly goes shy again. "Y-you ain't nothing but a hedgehog." She murmurs out. "I know the original song, it's a classic. And to see it written like that, well…" She finishes her sentence off there. Honestly, she doesn't need to use her words. Her face tells the whole story. "Anyway, would you like to read my poem now?"

I nod and take the poem from her. Honestly, it's what I expected. Very melancholy and metaphorical. It's at that point I realise it's Ghost under the light, the first poem Yuri shows the player at the beginning of the game. "It's strange… There's a very familiar feeling coming from this poem." I say to her with a half-smile. "I like this poem a lot. The use of ghosts as a metaphor is very clever."

Yuri shy's away again, playing with her hair. "I-I… I didn't expect you to get that right away. That's impressive." She responds, stuttering. I smile to try and comfort her and she smiles back. Eventually. "Thank you for sharing with me." She adds, before turning to Sayori.

From there, I share my poems with the other girls and the reactions are what I expected. Sayori needed a drink and some tissues to dry her eyes, she laughed so hard. Monika found it funny, but also maintained her composure. And Natsuki didn't get it because listening to classic popular tunes seems cringy and stupid. At least she complimented me on sticking to a theme, so I guess that's something.

A moment or two passes, before Yuri brings out some tea and we're sitting around the desks again. Here I am, once again, between Monika and Sayori, right across from Yuri, with Natsuki at the end. Monika finally breaks the silence. "So, Leyon. You mentioned you had another idea for a club activity?" She asks me, before resting her elbow on the desk, her hand meeting her chin and, my god, her eyes are amazing… No, stop, don't get distracted.

"Ah, yes. Yes, I did." I go to my bag and rake through every possible book, before finding the one I'm actually searching for. What hit's the desk is a three-hundred-and-sixteen-page hardback book, with the words 'Player's Handbook' emblazoned in white on the front. The cover is mostly coloured orange with some form of giant in what looks like combat with warrior woman with a spear. "So, this is a Role-Playing Game, or RPG for short. It's a game of collaborative storytelling and playing a character. I thought this would be good for the club as both a bonding exercise, because of the teamwork it requires from all players, including the Game Master. But also, because it would be interesting what sort of characters you create."

The reactions are split. Sayori and Monika seem excited, one slightly more apprehensive than the other. Yuri has an expression that can only described as pensive. And Natsuki looks horrified, like I did describe a harem. "Okay, I guess now's a good time to answer some questions, so, let me just get a few easy questions out of the way. No, there is no limit on the backstory of your character. Yes, there is combat, and a lot of luck involved as it comes to dice rolling and, no…" I pause to look at Natsuki. "No, it's not even remotely sexual, if you don't want it to be. If you want a very manga type hero, that's what you can make. Anything else? The floor is now open."

Sayori smiles and claps, like I just gave an inspirational speech. It's a little odd, but not discomforting. I nod to her. Monika nods at me, which I can only assume is her way of giving me the go ahead. And Yuri nods, but is still curious about what's happening in game. Natsuki reluctantly raises her hand. "How… do we play the game?" She asks, timidly. So, she's interested? That must have been hard for her to ask, but she would hate me for making a big deal about it. Instead, I hand out character sheets from inside the book. I printed them out around lunch time. I hand out the three-page sheets to the girls and one for myself. "Ans why do you have a spare set of sheets?" Natsuki adds with interest.

"Well…" And as I start to answer Natsuki's query, the bell rings. "Well, I'll have to answer these questions another day, it seems." I try to hide my disappointment, but my fellow club members don't look to happy about it. Even Yuri and Natsuki, who were more apprehensive to start with.

Then Monika stands up and looks around all of us. "Well, why don't we all go over to your home, Leyon?" she asks in a suggesting tone. The rest of the girls look at Monika, surprised. As do I. I didn't expect her to go so bold with this. But Sayori is the first to make up her mind about the idea.

"That's a great plan! We can hang out and get to know our knew club member, better. Hang out, outside of school hours, and continue to do this character creation, which is super fun!" She suggests. Natsuki seems reluctant, but nods in agreement. And Yuri nods, as well, but seems happy to join in on the fun.

"Well, alright then." I say, sighing. In truth, I'm actually very happy, on the inside, they want to spend time with me outside of school, which is great. "Let's go then."

And thus, today marks the day I sold my soul to the ladies of the Literature Club.


	5. 05 Closer to The Heart

**Closer to the Heart**

_(Confession time, this was part of the last chapter I uploaded. For one reason or another, this site doesn't like word documents that are over 3,000 words long. I'm not sure why. Anyway, here's a song by Rush. Another band I grew up listening to. Rest in Peace, Neil Peart. Legendary drummer and fantastic songwriter.)_

As we all walk in to my home, the girls all take a seat around the coffee table, while I make a pot of tea. Natsuki's taken the chair, which is where I thought I should sit, but I'll let it slide. Yuri and Sayori have taken up one couch, which leaves me sitting next to Monika. No complaints, here.

"So, I asked you two questions, in the club, Leyon?" Natsuki pipes up as I put a tray on the table, with a teapot, four cups, and a glass of ice with a can of soda for Natsuki.

I smile at my pink haired friend as I take my seat, opening the can and pouring the soda over the ice and handing her the beverage. "Well, to answer your first question, we're going to learn how to play the game by creating our characters." I inform her, while pouring the tea for me rest of us. I go back to my school bag, pulling out the Players Handbook, as well as a felt tray small bag, which I empty the contents into the tray, which are all my dice. "As for the second question, that can be answered in two parts. The first being that it'll be easier for me to help you create a character if I'm doing so as well, as an example. And the second part is I just enjoy creating characters."

From there, I give a brief explanation of the six abilities and what they represent and then grab four of my dice. "What we're going to do is roll these four six-sided dice, remove the lowest number rolled, and then add up the total of the remaining three. Then we go to the book and see what kind of modifier that gives us. This will be what we add to our twenty-sided dice result, when we roll a specific skill check." I say, shaking the dice in my two hands. "What I thought would be a good idea, is that we all roll once and make note of our results. The one who rolled the highest gets to roll the sixth time. Agreed?"

The girl's eyes light up and they all nod in unison. I nod to the girls and then roll, yielding a six, two fours and a two. "So, I remove the two and add the three other dice. Resulting in a fourteen." I make a note of that on a scrap piece of paper and pass it to my left, where Monika looks on, eagerly. "Your turn, Miss Club President."

Monika responds to me with a playful wink. "Here we go…" She says, happily shaking the dice and rolling them into the tray. "Oh! Okay, so that looks good. Two fives and a three… then we get rid of the one… so, thirteen? Right?" she asks me, which I nod with approval. "Great! Natsuki, your turn to roll!"

Natsuki closes her eyes and rolls the dice, surprising us all with three sixes and a two. "Wow! Eighteen! That's the best result!" She says, so proud of herself, noting the result down on the scrap paper. And then slowly handing it to Yuri.

Yuri takes a deep breath and rolls the dice. She opens her eyes to see two fives and two one's. "So that's eleven. Which means a zero mod. Great." She responds, dryly It's easy to see she's no happy with the result, so I should try to console her.

"Hey, don't worry about it. A zero modifier isn't bad. There's a chance to roll lower and get a minus number in the modifier." I say to her. I don't need to explain anymore, from there. Yuri nods with a slight smile on her face. I nod to her and move the scrap paper to Sayori "Your turn, neighbour!" I say to her, happily, perking up her already perked up spirits.

"Okay!" She shouts, excitedly. She rolls two sixes and two fours. "That's a sixteen, right?" She asks, excitedly, looking to me for approval. I nod and she bounces in her seat, writing down the sixteen on the piece of paper and passing it back to Natsuki. "Okay, Natsuki! Roll high again! You can do it!"

Natsuki takes the tray and slides it back over to Yuri. "You want a better role than that eleven, right?" She asks her. Yuri looks a little puzzled at first but then she understands and smiles at her fellow club member and rolls the dice.

"That's slightly better. A six and two three's, for a total of a twelve." She says and looking to Natsuki. "Thank you for understanding." Yuri looks to the diminutive manga fan, who nods towards her in appreciation. We then take a bit of time to sort out the six totals we've just rolled into our different abilities. Yuri then looks back to me, after she's picked her stats, then I talk about proficiency bonus, which adds an additional two points to skill checks to weapons, spells and kill checks that a character is proficient. "So, what do we do with these numbers, Leyon?"

I smile at her and turn to the next part of the book. "Now, we pick our characters race. The determines a base appearance, that you can play around with. As well as that, each race comes with ability modifiers to add to the numbers we just rolled and sorted. Meaning bigger numbers. For example, I'm going to make this character a human… Variant. This gives me two plus ones in two different stats of my choice. So, I'm going to take my two odd numbers and make them even. And a skill proficiency of my choice, which I'm going to add to arcana and-."

I look round the room and the puzzled expressions on the girls faces tell the whole story. Maybe it would be easier to break this down into step-by-step chunks and explain it for their character rather than use my own as a teaching tool. "Uh, alright, Monika. Let's start with you. What race would you like to play? There are nine to choose from: Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Human, Dragonborn, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc and Tiefling."

Monika looks through the options before looking back up at me. "I think I'll make my character Half-Elf. I did think about going for either Elf or Human, so knowing that there's a middle ground is the perfect choice!" She smiles, sweetly at me and we go through all the benefits of the Half-Elf race. Which is a lot.

"So, after applying the ability score raises, you actually have a maxed-out Charisma score at level one. That's impressive, Monika." I say to her, nodding and smiling back at her. I doubt she managed to pull that off on purpose, but it is what it is. "When it comes to picking a class, later, you might want to consider one that uses your Charisma as a spellcasting ability." I point out. I get a look of interest from our Club President as I move around the table "What about you, Sayori? Have you picked a-!"

"Human!" She calls out. "I just want something simple. But human variant, specifically." Of course, she's picked the same as me. I'd already gone over half of it, so all we need to do is polish it off. "Variant Humans get to choose a feat, Sayori. Feats give you an extra edge towards something, but we'll come back to that, because that's best chosen after you've picked a class, alright?"

"Okay!" She responds, enthusiastically. I nod at her and look towards Yuri and she looks motivated.

"I-I've made my choice. I want to pick an Elf. Specifically, a Wood Elf." She says, confidently. I'm impressed. She seems to have taken in a lot of information very quickly. And we noted down the important details even quicker than that. Darkvision, Mask of the wild, all of it. That leaves Natsuki.

I give Yuri a quick nod and turn my attention to the Tsundere cupcake specialist, who shuffles, awkwardly in her seat. "I… Don't like Any of these races." She mumbles. I think she's expecting me to sigh, get mad and tell her that it's her tough luck and she should just pick one. However, I have something else in mind.

"That's alright. There are more races than the one's in this book. Let me grab one of the expansion books." I stand up and head to the bookshelves behind the sofa. "Did you have something in mind, Natsuki?"

"I can hear her shuffling in the chair. "Something…. Don't laugh okay?!" I hear from Natsuki. The other girls must be staring, or scowling, or somewhere in between. "… S-sorry, Leyon." I can hear, barely. Poor girl has been through enough with her father. "I-I was hoping for something more cat-like."

"Cat-like… I know exactly what you're looking for." I come back to the table open at a page from a different book, showing artwork of an anthropomorphised cat. "This is a Tabaxi. They share a lot of habits with a house cat. They're also adept fighters, as you can tell." After I explain this to Natsuki, I look up from the book to see a smile on her face.

"It's Perfect!" She says, taking the book and making notes of all that she needs. I knew there was a race, for everyone, even Natsuki. Same goes for classes. Talking of which.

"Now, we need to pick a class. Each class gives each character combat capabilities, such as the ability to cast spells, or to hit someone with their fists harder than others. I'm going to make my character, for example, a Ranger. They are one's with nature and their surroundings." I say as I look around, seeing interest on everyone's faces. Now I've got them. Let's see… Who to start with… Got it! "Yuri! What would you like to do in combat?"

"Well… I'm not sure." She responds, looking at the first page of the classes chapter. "I like the sound of the Druid, so I'll go with that." I smile. A druid is always a fine choice. I can see Yuri's happy with it as well, as she turns to Sayori. "What about you? What do you think you'll choose?"

Sayori looks troubled? "What will we have to fight? Real, or not, I don't want to hurt anyone who doesn't deserve punishment." She looks sad, and the game hasn't begun. I have to make sure not to upset anyone, to harshly. I know the perfect class for her!

"Sayori! You should play a Paladin." I say to her. She looks on, curious. "Paladins are warriors of a sacred oath. They fight to protect. To punish evil." Sayori's eyes light up and she immediately writes up her class. I knew that was the one for her.

"Well, I know what I'm taking!" Natsuki speaks out, a finger raised upward from a fully outstretched arm. "I'm choosing Monk!" She adds, enthusiastically. I must admit, I felt that one coming. Though, it makes sense. Monk is closest to an anime character this game has. "Which leaves you, Monika."

I have to admit, I am a little curious about what choice she's going to make. I recommended she pick a class that uses her maxed-out Charisma, but she doesn't have to. She could easily pick Rogue and still make use of that Ability Modifier. "I choose Bard." She says, looking up from the book.

"That makes too much sense." I say, laughing. Monika joins me with that. We both know I'm right. It seems like a foregone conclusion that she'd pick a class around music and rhythm.


	6. 06 The Chain

**The Chain**

_(It's Fleetwood Mac's turn at the helm, for this one. I wanted something calm and cool for this chapter. It's mostly going to be back and forth between Leyon and… Well, wait and see.)_

We go on talking for the rest of the night, sorting out skills, Magic spells and equipment, before having a sample fight to show the girls how skill checks work both in and out of combat. Natsuki takes to it quite quickly. Which is what I expected. She is a gamer. Yuri and Monika pick it up quite quickly as well. Sayori has grasped the role-playing aspect of the game, but she's a bit slower to pick up the dice rolling part.

And like that, it starts to get dark. And one by one, the girls go home. Natsuki and Sayori are the first to leave. Then Monika, who was a little reluctant to leave, but I assured her everything was going to be fine.

That leaves me alone with Yuri, drinking Tea and working on a backstory, with some secrets about her character that she wants to keep from the rest of the club. That's just good storytelling. Everyone has secrets. Even me. "My… It's gotten pretty late." Yuri speaks up, looking outside. Sure enough, the only light outside is the light of a street lamp outside my house.

"I can walk you home, if you wan-." And before I can finish that sentence, the rain comes down, suddenly and heavily. There's a flash of lightning and then an extremely loud rumble of thunder, overhead. "Yeah…" I add, putting down another mug of hot tea on the table. "Screw that, you're staying here overnight."

Yuri looks away, shyly, blushing uncontrollably. "I-I-I c-can't." She stammers in protest. She starts fidgeting and playing with her hair. I understand why she'd feel uncomfortable about this, but at the same time I can't let her go home in that. Another bolt of lightning, alongside a rumble of thunder. This one knocks out the power. Yuri yelps, which I didn't expect. I switch on the torch on my phone and see she looks calm, which totally contradicts the noise she just made. "S-sorry… That one took me by surprise."

"I understand." I respond, quietly and start to head upstairs. "I'll make the bed in the spare room. The power should be back on, shortly. And then we can sort out some night wear for you. Sure enough, an hour later, the power's back on. Yuri let's her folks and club members know she's staying over. "Could you pass my number on to the girls, please Yuri?"

Yuri nods and sends a message to Natsuki, Sayori and Monika. I get responses from Sayori and Monika. Natsuki might be in trouble. I'll get the word from her tomorrow. I split from Yuri as we get to the top of stairs, wishing her a good night as she does with me. "Hoo, boy." I say to myself as I lay down and sleep.

The next morning, I'm woken by the sound of my phone's message notification noises. Apparently, I forgot that the storm reset my alarm clock… Anyway, I check my phone to find the girls invited me into a group chat they hat set up. Reading the messages, it seems the school roof caved in, under the weight of all the rain that fell. Which is scary, because that really says something about the shortcuts taken to erect that building, as Yuri pointed out. Although, as Natsuki pointed out, it means we are free for a few days. I send a good morning text and then the group chat is suddenly a group voice call.

"Morning Leyon! Did we wake you up?" Monika and Sayori ask one after the other."

"Yeah, but it's fine. I forgot to reset my alarm clock after the storm, so it's fine." I inform them. I rub my eyes and head downstairs after putting my dressing gown on over my pyjamas and make myself a cup of coffee. "So, what's the plan now, girls?"

"Actually, now that I think about it, did you get home safely, Yuri?" Sayori asks. I then hear Yuri stammering. I forgot she was in the spare room. I better defuse the situation, as quickly as possible. Poor Yuri might become a puddle of nerves if I don't.

"Actually, Yuri is still here." I Explain that the storm kicked off, before I could take her home, so she's in one of the spare bedrooms to the rest of the girls. I can almost feel the sigh of relief from Yuri, never mind hear her from downstairs on my couch.

"So, a spare bedroom, huh?" Monika asks. "Do you have any more of those, at your home, Leyon?" I can't help but notice Monika is hinting at something… I also can't help but notice that she's the only one outside, right now. I'm also pretty positive I have my room and the one Yuri's in, but then I notice another door next to the downstairs toilet and another door upstairs, next to a cupboard, and then another one upstairs at the opposite end of the hall. All of which I didn't notice, until today.

"I live in a five-bedroom house and didn't notice until you asked." I respond. To which I can hear all four girls laughing, with Yuri's laughter coming through in stereo. I deserve that, to be honest. How is it I haven't looked around my house, until now? "Okay, I'm having another coffee after that, I can't lie."

Natsuki finally joins the conversation. "So… Could we play that RPG today?" She asks, with a little tone of hope in her voice. I have to admit, the thought did cross my mind. Especially after the bedroom debacle.

"Sure, we can make a day of it. Yuri will need to go pick up a few things, obviously." He said, as Yuri eventually makes her way downstairs. "And I'll move my stuff to the only downstairs bedroom. I'm usually awake at the crack of dawn, anyway."

"We should also do some homework." Monika chimes in. "The school will be closed for a few days, so, we should stay up to date with our studies." There's a palpable level of disappointment, as Monika kills the buzz. "Sorry! Ahaha, I was just trying to be practical."

"But!" Sayori adds. "If School is closed for a while, we can spend a few nights with Leyon and alternate our days of studying and playing games!" There's a pause, before Monika speaks up again.

"Okay everyone! Our clubs Vice President has come up with the perfect plan." She says, excitedly. "I'll head home and grab some things for a few days. Natsuki, I can meet you at your house, if you need me too, while Sayori goes with Yuri to sort out what she needs."

"Great stuff. That gives me time to sort out the house." I chime in. "Sayori, you can drop off your stuff here, before you head out with Yuri." Yuri nods at me, while Sayori okays the idea. By the sound of things, she started packing about ten minutes ago. Speaking of sounds, I have to know, now. "By the way, Monika, where are you?"

"Haha… Well, I'm heading home now. I went to have a coffee at my favourite café." She says, happily. I kind of wish I went with her, now, but I have things to do. We all say our goodbyes and do what we need to do. Sayori drops off her stuff and heads out with Yuri, while I move my things to my new bedroom. I must be honest; I prefer this one downstairs room. It's much more spacious, so I can easily store all my stuff, and now I'm closer to the kitchen. And there's an en suite bathroom, so I move a few towels to my room. I even have time to pop round the corner to a small grocery store and buy some soda's and milk.

As I get back to the house, I start to unpack. Or I try to, but my doorbell goes off. Monika and Natsuki arrive. "Hey girls, come on in!" I say and point upstairs, closing the door behind them. I can't help but notice that the clouds are starting to darken. I hope Sayori and Yuri get here before the weather worsens. I start sending a message to find out where I am, only to find Monika unpacking my shopping and Natsuki upstairs.

"Hey, which room was Yuri in? I want to claim one of these rooms now, so I'm going to put my bag in front of the door." That's a pretty smart call, actually. That way, no one gets mixed up. It's only just now I notice that her backpack is huge. Almost as big as Natsuki, herself.

"Yuri's is the one around the corner on the left, facing the front of the house." I inform her with a smile, while I move over to help Monika unpack. "There's a room across from that, which faces the corner onto another street, or there's two more on the right side of the house, opposite each other. One facing the garden, the other facing Sayori's house. Take your pick."

Natsuki nods and moves over to the right side of the house, dumping her bag in front of the bedroom that faces the garden, before coming downstairs to lay across the couch and falling asleep, almost instantly. "She was tired." Monika points out. "Poor girl was being yelled at by her Dad, even when she was leaving."

Right, I forgot about that part of the game. There's no way her old man knows where she is. Even if he finds out, I don't mind dealing with that issue. "Let's just let her rest then." I respond and pass Monika's bag up to her. "Go pick a room. I'll make us a drink."


End file.
